Economics for the Earth Blog

Friends of the Earth asks General James L. Jones to disclose financial ties to Keystone XL backers

Posted Mar. 13, 2014 / Posted by: Kate Colwell

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In advance of today’s Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on the Keystone XL pipeline, Friends of the Earth is seeking clarification about the relationship between former United States National Security Adviser General James L. Jones and interests supporting the Keystone XL pipeline, including the American Petroleum Institute.

“If General Jones is going to testify as an expert about the Keystone XL pipeline, he should be upfront about any interests he might represent that could be impacted by the pipeline,” said Friends of the Earth senior campaigner Ross Hammond.

Other witnesses scheduled to testify today along with General Jones include climate scientist Dr. James Hansen, director of the Program on Climate Science, Awareness and Solutions and adjunct professor at Columbia University’s Earth Institute, Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club and Karen Alderman Harbert, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for 21st Century Energy. General Jones is listed under his professional title of “President of Jones Group International.” Yet it has been reported that General Jones is also a paid adviser to both the American Petroleum Institute and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, chief proponents of Keystone XL.

“Listing General Jones under his professional title seems like an attempt to hide the fact that he is paid by the oil industry,” Hammond said.

Friends of the Earth President Erich Pica sent a letter to General Jones yesterday asking him to publicly disclose any and all payments from API, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce or any corporation that has a financial stake in the pipeline. “The American public deserves to know for whom General Jones is speaking when he talks to Congress,” Hammond said.

The letter stated “Our representatives in Congress have a right to learn all of the pertinent facts about the Keystone XL pipeline unfiltered by corporate special interests.” It added that “Disclosing all relevant payments from interests advocating for or against the pipeline will help our representatives decide how to balance the competing information they are sure to receive.”